1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a data detection system, more particularly to a wheel data detection system and a wireless data detection device thereof that are easily applied to wheels of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
An abnormal tire pressure not only shortens the service life of the tire and increases the fuel consumption of the vehicle, but also degrades the brake performance of the vehicle while increasing the risk of flat tires. When tire pressure increases, the braking distance traveled by the vehicle increases as well. Therefore, in order to ensure driving safety, tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) are increasingly being employed in vehicles. In particular, the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has requested that all vehicles sold in the United States beginning the year 2007 are to be equipped with tire pressure monitoring systems in order to effectively prevent traffic accidents caused by abnormal tire pressure in vehicles.
A tire pressure monitoring system normally includes several detection devices that are mounted respectively on the wheels of a vehicle for detecting tire pressure, and a receiver device for receiving the detected tire pressure from the detection devices and for notifying users of the same. Numerous techniques related to tire pressure monitoring systems are present today.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,009,579 discloses mounting of one or more radio frequency devices directly on the wheels. Each of the radio frequency devices includes a wireless component and an antenna connected to the wireless component for transmitting and receiving radio signals. In this way, the radio frequency devices can be used as detection devices for detecting information such as tire pressure.
Moreover, as radio frequency identification (RFID) technology advances, multiple techniques related to RFID have been introduced. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,724,301, an RFID tag loaded with rim identification information can be provided on an outer surface of the rim that faces the tire, and another RFID tag loaded with tire identification information can be provided on an inner surface of the tire. The identification information can include name of manufacturer, product number, date of production/use, etc., in order to allow users or manufacturers to track the source of the rims and tires. Further, the RFID tags can further be facilitated to detect tire pressure. In addition, Taiwanese Patent No. 563,639 also discloses mounting a detection device at the outer surface of the rim.
However, U.S. Pat. No. 7,009,579 discloses mounting of the detection device directly on the surface of the wheel. Thus, if a vehicle is to use the detection device, all of its wheels need to be replaced with new ones that have the detection devices mounted thereto, resulting in a relatively high cost. In addition, when the wheels equipped with the detection devices wear out and need replacement, the detection devices are disposed along with the worn out wheels and cannot be reused. On the other hand, according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,724,301 and Taiwanese Patent No. 563,639, the detection device is mounted on the outer surface of the rim facing the tire. This way, the rim and the tire need to be dissembled before the detection devices can be mounted, resulting in inconvenience during application.